RADIO
Here at RotoBaller, we are always searching for ways to give our readers the best fantasy sports content possible. With that goal in mind, we are very proud to announce the addition of a weekly PGA “One and Done” column. In this feature, our golf staff of Joe Nicely, Spencer Aguiar and Gianni Magliocco will provide their weekly golf picks every Wednesday. The purpose of this article is to present you with alternative options to consider and hopefully make your selection a much easier process weekly. With that plan in mind, let's get started!
This is it boys and girls. Both our little OAD contest and the 2018-19 PGA Tour season come to a close this week at the TOUR Championship. If you've followed along with our picks this year, then you know that Gianni and I have been in a season-long war for the top spot. It's fitting that things will come down to the final event of the season between us, with my lead over Gianni standing just a shade under $150k.
As most of you know, the PGA Tour has decided to try something new in this year's TOUR Championship by giving the advantage of strokes based on a player's position in the FedEx Cup points standings. In the spirit of fairness, we decided to throw that out for the purposes of our RotoBaller OAD contest, opting to have all of our picks starting at even par for the week and going from there, with payouts scaled down to a more standard size. I know, it's all a little complicated, but I promise we're doing the best we can!
Featured Promo: Get any full-season Props Premium Pass for 10% off using code BALLER. Win more with our two new Props Optimizer tools -- one for PrizePicks Props, and one for Sportsbook Betting Props. Find optimal prop bets and get our recommended picks daily! Go Premium, Win More!For an in-depth breakdown of the top DraftKings and Fanduel plays, check out Joe Nicely's weekly Horse For The Course that highlights the best fits for the week's course.
And you can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week.
2019 TOUR Championship
East Lake Golf Club
7,385 Yards - Par 70 - Greens Bermuda
This Donald Ross gem has morphed from the place where the great Bobby Jones honed his craft into the annual home of the PGA Tour's season finale. Despite being an older course, East Lake usually puts up a pretty good fight against the best golfers in the world, with the winning score generally coming in at around 12-under par. Players will need to be sharp both off the tee and on approach here, with a Bermuda-grass putting surface awaiting them on the greens.
One and Done Selections
Joe Nicely - Tommy Fleetwood
Alternate - Louis Oosthuizen
I probably made a pretty serious misstep at last week's BMW Championship with my selection of Joaquin Niemann. I had "better" options available to me, but with only the top-30 finishers in the FedEx Cup points standings moving on to this week's TOUR Championship, I had to assure myself options for this week. My man Niemann dug himself a hole early at Medinah, and while he battled back to a respectable T31 finish, his $53k payday was a pittance compared to Gianni's horse Jon Rahm and his $350k haul. With my lead at just around $150k, the pressure is on this week.
The law of deduction tells me that Gianni will probably be going with Xander Schauffele this week. He's a formidable player that has torched East Lake in his two appearances and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. I wish I had a magic rabbit to pull out of my hat this week, but all I can do is say a little prayer as I roll out "Fairway Jesus" as my last selection of the season.
I've been kicking myself over the past month for not using Tommy Fleetwood at either the Open Championship or the WGC-FedEx, but I'm honestly pretty happy to have him available to me this week. Tommy started off the season with top-five finishes at the Arnold Palmer and Players before hitting a little mid-season lull. The Englishman has kicked things back into gear as of late though, with two top-fives and a T11 in his last four starts. He doesn't have much history at East Lake - a T11 in his lone appearance last season - but Fleetwood has demonstrated that he can go low on pretty much any type of course.
No matter how things turn out this week, I'd like to thank both Gianni and Spencer for joining me on this fun little ride this season! The competition has been fierce, but friendly, and both of the guys have made some amazing calls along the way.
*FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a participant in the Gup's Corner One and Done. I currently stand 50th on the season-long leaderboard and to avoid putting myself at a competitive disadvantage I may or may not opt to use a different player than the selection listed above. - Joe Nicely
Yearly Earnings - $10,125,410
Yearly Cuts Made - 28/31
Spencer Aguiar - Bryson DeChambeau
Alternate - Brooks Koepka
For those wondering, I have already used Brooks Koepka, so I didn't decide to roll Bryson DeChambeau out over Koepka in the final tournament of the season. Best case scenario: The guys let me use him as my alternate if DeChambeau is unable to go for whatever reason. Worst case: I get disqualified from the contest for breaking the rules. All in all, it seems like a relatively good gamble when you consider the fact that I am down over three million dollars to both Joe and Gianni.
I am not going to sit here and write something that will take over three minutes for the viewers to read. Frankly, my selection will waste enough of your time this weekend when it takes him five minutes in-between shots to decide what he wants to do. Instead, I will say this: It has been a fun contest this season between the three of us and congratulations to whoever is able to hoist the title come Sunday. Will it be me? Well, that remains to be seen if I can finagle the rules to my advantage one more time and get the full 15 million dollar payout when DeChambeau captures the fictitious stroke play championship. Don't count me out yet!
- Spencer Aguiar
Yearly Earnings - $6,591,150
Yearly Cuts Made - 29/31
Gianni Magliocco - Xander Schauffele
Alternate - Abraham Ancer
Pretty simple this week, I need a top-3 finish at worst, and my sole realistic chance of achieving that lies with Xander Schauffele.
Against me is Joe's considerable lead going into the last event due to the payout structure being so tight, but in my favor is Schauffele's love for East Lake. He followed a win here in 2017 with a seventh-place finish last year, and at last week's BMW Championship, the Californian had his best week tee-to-green since his T3 at the U.S. Open.
Regardless of what happens in the final week, I want to congratulate Spencer for his incredible cut percentage over the season (you won't believe the two players who cost him perfection!) and Joe for amassing an outstanding total that is worthy of a champion.
- Gianni Magliocco
Yearly Earnings - $9,982,566
Yearly Cuts Made - 27/31
Running Totals
|
Joe Nicely |
Spencer Aguiar |
Gianni Magliocco |
|
|
Sony Open |
Gary Woodland $11,520 |
Justin Thomas $99,200 |
Kevin Kisner $12,864 |
|
Desert Classic |
Jon Rahm $212,400 |
Jon Rahm $212,400 |
Patrick Cantlay $159,300 |
|
Farmers Insurance |
Marc Leishman $21,158 |
Patrick Cantlay $0 |
Charles Howell III $79,804 |
|
Waste Management |
Hideki Matsuyama $113,600 |
Webb Simpson $76,917 |
Justin Thomas $482,800 |
|
Pebble Beach |
Chez Reavie $31,160 |
Phil Mickelson $1,368,000 |
Phil Mickelson $1,368,000 |
|
Genesis Open |
Xander Schauffele $100,788 |
Hideki Matsuyama $177,600 |
Dustin Johnson $177,600 |
|
WGC Mexico Championship |
Justin Thomas $201,000 |
Xander Schauffele $128,000 |
Tommy Fleetwood $103,750 |
|
Honda Classic |
Adam Scott $0 |
Gary Woodland $25,346 |
Adam Scott $0 |
|
Arnold Palmer |
Rory McIlroy $294,613 |
Justin Rose $19,474 |
Jason Day $0 |
|
Players Championship |
Sergio Garcia $125,000 |
Tiger Woods $77,625 |
Rory McIlroy $2,250,000 |
|
Valspar Championship |
Patrick Reed $0 |
Sergio Garcia $15,209 |
Henrik Stenson $54,270 |
|
WGC-Match Play |
Ian Poulter $108,429 |
Haotong Li $167,000 |
Francesco Molinari $712,000 |
|
Valero Texas Open |
Tony Finau $16,275 |
Rickie Fowler $112,500 |
Tony Finau $16,275 |
|
Masters |
Tiger Woods $2,070,000 |
Bubba Watson $225,400 |
Rickie Fowler $310,500 |
|
RBC Heritage |
Byeong Hun An $0 |
Matt Kuchar $745,200 |
Brandt Snedeker $17,342 |
|
Wells Fargo Championship |
Rickie Fowler $311,063 |
Tony Finau $17,064 |
Webb Simpson $99,540 |
|
Bryon Nelson |
Keith Mitchell $17,301 |
Brooks Koepka $379,200 |
Tony Romo $0 |
|
PGA Championship |
Brooks Koepka $1,980,000 |
Rory McIlroy $264,395 |
Brooks Koepka $1,980,000 |
|
Charles Schwab |
Jordan Spieth $197,100 |
Francesco Molinari $16,819 |
Paul Casey $0 |
|
Memorial |
Patrick Cantlay $1,638,000 |
Adam Scott $982,800 |
Hideki Matsuyama $327,600 |
|
RBC Canadian Open |
Webb Simpson $668,800 |
Kevin Tway $22,977 |
Matt Kuchar $334,400 |
|
U.S. Open |
Dustin Johnson $57,853 |
Tommy Fleetwood $23,851 |
Tiger Woods $117,598 |
|
Travelers Championship |
Paul Casey $262,800 |
Jason Day $194,400 |
Marc Leishman $65,760 |
|
Rocket Mortgage Classic |
Billy Horschel $105,850 |
Dustin Johnson $0 |
Billy Horschel $105,850 |
|
3M Open |
Bryson DeChambeau $563,200 |
Sungjae Im $92,960 |
Bryson DeChambeau $563,200 |
|
John Deere Classic |
Collin Morikawa $264,000 |
Bud Cauley $70,500 |
Zach Johnson $24,000 |
|
Open Championship |
Henrik Stenson $91,350 |
Eddie Pepperell $24,625 |
Justin Rose $91,350 |
|
WGC- St. Jude |
Matt Kuchar $70,000 |
Marc Leishman $602,000 |
Patrick Reed $143,625 |
|
Wyndham Championship |
Viktor Hovland $297.600 |
Paul Casey $109,533 |
Jordan Spieth $11,284 |
|
Northern Trust |
Justin Rose $240,500 |
Jordan Spieth $299,469 |
Gary Woodland $21,354 |
|
BMW Championship |
Joaquin Niemann $53,650 |
Bill Horschel $40,700 |
Jon Rahm $351,500 |
